Follow ups on inauguration day…

Stories are still coming back from Tuesday’s inauguration. One of disappointment: Amy Catania of Saranac Lake had a ticket to the favored “purple” section, but was stuck for over seven hours in a line that never made it in the gate, and finally “collapsed in total chaos.” Amy wrote:

I was next to an elderly African American woman from Oklahoma who had come with her daughter for the purple section. She was separated from her daughter and very tired. It was a terrible shame. We were very squished at the end and scared. Three people around me during the day collapsed and people had to call for a long time for medical help. At one point I felt myself lose my footing and realized I was being held up by the crowd. In the 7 and a half hours that I waited, I witnessed not a single effort by the very few security people and officers on hand to control or direct the crowd. There were no bathroom facilities.

Despite all, she said she and the people around were able to share the moment:

One nice thing happened at the end after the gate shut: The crowd luckily dispersed a bit and hundreds of small groups spontaneously formed around cell phones, straining quietly to hear Obama’s speech on speaker phone, as people had
called friends and asked them to put the phone to the TV. There was total quiet except for his distant voice and people crying with bowed heads. Such a feeling of sadness for how the day had turned out, but also love for our new President and deep pride. (see photo)